WWE SmackDown Notes: Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley for WWE Women’s Title Set for Clash In Italy, ESPN To Air First Hour of Clash In Italy & Matches Revealed for ESPN Hour, Blake Monroe Makes SmackDown Debut Appearance, 5/29 Show Card

May 22, 2026

Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley for WWE Women’s Title Announced for WWE Clash In Italy

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky featured one new match set for the card of Clash in Italy, which takes place on May 31st at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy.

This new match announced was a WWE Women’s Championship match of Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley (c).

This new match was initially setup over recent weeks shows over Cargill and Ripley’s bad blood issues with each other and Cargill issuing a challenge for a rematch for Ripley’s title. During tonight’s show, Ripley came out to the ring and addressed Cargill’s challenge to her. Ripley stated that she accepted it and will see Cargill at Clash in Italy.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! @RheaRipley_WWE is ready to defend her title against @Jade_Cargill at WWE Clash in Italy 🏆 pic.twitter.com/vuyE2yj82K
— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2026

Later in the show, it was announced that this match was made official for Clash in Italy.

The TV graphic for Rhea Ripley vs Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Championship at #WWEClash #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/31IK1JpETD
— Cory of False Finish (@Cory_Hays407) May 23, 2026

Current card for WWE Clash in Italy:

Undisputed WWE Championship – Gunther vs. Cody Rhodes (c)
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tribal Combat match – Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns (c) (ESPN)
WWE Women’s Championship – Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley (c) (ESPN)

ESPN To Air First Hour of Clash In Italy & Matches Revealed for ESPN Hour

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured WWE announcing that the first hour of their upcoming Clash in Italy event on May 31st in Turin, Italy will air live on ESPN.

The first hour of Clash in Italy will be on ESPN.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/HP3c0oPpnj
— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) May 23, 2026

In a follow-up announcement, it was announced that the WWE Women’s Championship match of Jade Cargill vs. Rhea Ripley (c) and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Tribal Combat match of Jacob Fatu vs. Roman Reigns (c) will air on ESPN.

This will be the third straight WWE PLE to have its first hour air live on an ESPN television network and the second WWE PLE to air on ESPN’s main network.

Blake Monroe Makes SmackDown Debut Appearance

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Blake Monroe making her official debut appearance on the SmackDown brand.

During the show, Chelsea Green was seen walking backstage. This led to Monroe showing up to interrupt. Green and Monroe introduced each other and Green responded that Monroe already knows who she is. Monroe responded back stating she wishes she didn’t and walked away. This led to the Irresistible Forces’ Nia Jax & Lash Legend showing up and attacked Green. Jax told Green that she just made enemies as WWE officials showed up to break it up.

.@ImChelseaGreen can't catch a break 😬@BlakeMonroeWWE pic.twitter.com/yr0lQGukug
— WWE (@WWE) May 23, 2026

Current Card For Next Week’s Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured one new match announced for the card of next week’s show on May 29th at the Olimpic Arena Badalona in Barcelona, Spain.

This upcoming show will be airing live starting at around 1:30 PM EST on Netflix internationally and on tape delay starting at 8PM EST on USA Network in the United States.

Current card for May 29th WWE SmackDown show:

Axiom vs. The Miz